Winterlude and Bonsai Potatoes

Hopefully, as a sign that the end of Winter is approaching, Winterlude 2008 came to a close today. Ottawa's annual winter festival is known for its ice sculptures, skating on the Rideau Canal(apparently the world's biggest skating rink....7km long)and the infamous Beaver Tails...Ottawa's own high calorie winter-time snack.

With only a couple of days left in Canada, Mai and I took a trip to the canal yesterday. It was a gorgeous day. the sun was shining and hordes of folks stumbled along the canal. Many sober, some maybe not! We lived the "Ottawa Winterlude Cliche" and followed up some skating with Beaver Tales and coffee. It was nice, but again, I can't wait for this winter to be over. This was my first time in Canada in almost 6 years during the Winter and I have to admit...I wish I wasn't here for the Winter...to damn cold!

Throngs of people stumble about, making merry and eating deep-fried bread snacks (Beaver Tails). Many were skating, some walking and some simply rolled about on the ice with skates attached to their feet.


On our way to Starbucks on Elgin Street for a coffee and a chance to warm-up, we admired some definite "widow-maker" icicles!


It's Zen Without the Wait!!!!
"Are you the type of person who longs for patience and tranquility in your life? Of course you are, but in our modern society who has the time? Now it's possible. With the items contained in this kit you can quickly and efficiently reach an inner peace that can take monks an entire lifetime to achieve."

That's what it says when you take a look at the home of the Bonsai Potato.



Just when you think you life couldn't possibly get weirder....it does. I suppose this is a case of the Orient meets Idaho!


On a non-potato topic. I came across this weird pic today. I took it last year while walking to a restaurant in Busan. I think I had been hiking and consuming beer on Jangsan (a local mountain) and saw this giant dog-house-thingy.

Not sure what it was. Possibly a vet's office...maybe a pet shop...hopefully not a dog restaurant. Doubt the last one though...doggie restaurants in Korea are normally more discreet with their signage.

The Big Baby on Video...

Here's a little Ron Mueck action at the National Art Gallery in Ottawa....set to an amusing tune...

I was kickin it at Rideau Canl all afternoon with Mai...shufflin about the iceand eatin Beaver Tails...pictures to come tomorrow!

Big Baby Time...

Robots, White Trash and Ottawa Fog

The January thaw as it's called has arrived in Canada's capital city and it's damn wet. All this week temps are hovering around the 10c mark which is a bit of a climatic rollercoaster ride considering it was close to -30c just a week ago! So, it looks like there'll be no skating on the Rideau Canal this week or the next few. I'm hoping the Canal will be frozen so Mai and I have a chance to do some skating before she heads back to Japan.


What's this?? It's the view from my apartment window this afternoon. Normally there's a nice view of Ottawa, but today the fog was thicker than pea soup. What wonderful winter weather we have.


Normally a beautiful site, here's the locks at the Rideau Canal beside the Chateau Laurier Hotel this afternoon. Sure doesn't feel like Winter.


I was going through some of the piles of old footage I have on my laptop and came across this little snipit this afternoon. I took it when I was in Shibuya in Tokyo last Spring. I thought it was mildly amusing.

The little "robot flagman" at the construction site was just weird. The "White Trash Charm Japan" jewelry shop in Rypongi was also a nice hoot. Gotta love Japlish!!


Well, back to school nice and early tomorrow morning. It's going to be rough waking up at 6:30am after such a long and relaxing vacation. Lots of new courses and projetcs on their way, all designed to make me a better teacher I suppose. Sounds like a few of them will be pretty cool and a few others...well, I'm just not sure at all what to expect.

Canadian New Years....with some galbi thrown in!

Well, the New Year is here and the vacation is has almost come to an end. What’s been going on? I suppose a damn lot to put it simply. I’m officially half-way through my course and half-way to becoming a certified primary school teacher. It’s been a tough go of things since I began school. In the beginning I was wondering what all of the fuss was about. I seemed to have plenty of free-time and little to study, but things quickly snowballed. My practice teaching was tougher than I imagined. After 5 years of teaching relatively well-behaved kids in Korea, I was thrown into the fray with a 3rd grade class in one of Ottawa’s Beacon Schools. It was challenging, but in the end everything worked out well and I’m certainly the better teacher for it. The kids I taught, while chatty and uber-energetic, were very cool!

Rough semester done, solid grades and an amazing time teaching 3rd grade in ottawa, it was time for a nice little break. Mai and I spent Christmas with my folks for a week and my waist grew by several centimeters...the sign of a truly Canadian Christmas. I've come to quickly realize, after spending my first winter in Ottawa, that a truly Cnadian Christmas...at least an Ottawa one is friggin cold!! Wow...this place seems to have the same temperature as Yellowknife...actually...it often does!

For New Years, Mai and I ventured to London...Ontario. Our magical VIA experience, with crying babies across the aisle had a happy ending when Tom and Amity whisked us away from Union Station to London. The four of us met in Korea and were going to have a "quasi-Korean" themed New Years. We stopped in Korea Town in Toronto and picked up supplies for a feed of New Years galbi at Tom's place. Tom and Amity supplied the Korean bbq cook plate and Mai and I supplied the Baek saeju.


Tom cookin up a storm of galbi...in the confines of his Canadian apartment. Tom's funky litle Korean cooker was compliments of Amity. I believe she picked it up at a korean market in Columbus, OH.

After a few days and enough booze to kill a small herd of cattle, the four of us were off to Toronto. it was the last stop before Mai and I were to head back to the "Siberia-Like" atmosphere of Ottawa. Our tour guides (Tom and Amity) decided that it would be in the best interest of us, as well as the rest of humanity for us to visit the Steamwhistle Brewery in downtown Toronto. It's beside the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre. It was a great call on their part. A quick tour and four glasses of fabulous pilsner later, we were on our way.


A gaggle of former English and Japanese teachers enjoy the wonderful sudes at the Steamwhistle Brewery.

Here is a pile of Steamwhislte kegs on the production floor of the brewery. It's basically a "pile of heaven." Damn fine beer and in large quantities.


Tom used some of his savvy photography skills and snapped a few neat pics of Mai and myself outside Steamwhistle. EeEkkk...there appears to be a CN Tower in the background.

Ok...time in London and Toronto was finished. Back on the train for the trip to "Siberia-like" Ottawa. An annoying first-year Ottawa U student sat across from us and talked non-stop for more than four hours. A nice businessman sat beside her and somehow tolerated her babbling. I thought Mai was going to leap over me and quickly put an end to the girl's nattering. It was quite possible since two days earlier we watched the new Johnny Depp flick, Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Luckily Mai didn't have a razor on her at the time!!

So, we got back to Ottawa and walked home. It's about a 15 minute walk from the train station...no problem. WRONG! IT WAS COOOLLLLD!!! Painful cold. Got home and checked online...with the windchill....-29C. Ahh well...tis life in the Great White North.

Tonight we ventured downtown to look at the lights. The NCC (National Capital Commission) lights up Ottawa for the Holiday Season. From December6-January 6, there are beautiful lights throughout the downtown area, on the museums and of course the Parliament Buildings. With only 2 nights left to see them we needed to take a gander...well worth the trip.


Here's the canada Post building on the corner of Sparks Street across from Darcy Magee's pub. It certainly looked ship-shape.


Mai stood here infron of the Parliament Buildings. They looked great. They are illuminated with massive white snowflakes and lots of other groovy little lights.


The Fairmont hotel...aka...Chateau Laurier looked awesome as usual. Whenever I look at the hotel it reminds me of some sort of Bavarian castle. Why can I imagine it full of drunken German monks for some reason?


On our way home, we stopped on the bridge between the National Arts Centee and the Rideau Centre to take a look at the Rideau Canal. At night it looks great. Check it out for yourself.

Just a few more days left and the last term of my teacher education programs gets underway. I suppose things will be the same way as last semester; start off slow and then snowball into a world of assignments, stress and this time teaching a junior grade for 5 weeks...wither grade 4, 5 or 6...not sure yet. I plan to keep folks posted about my life in Ottawa on a more regular basis now. This is definitely a cool little city to live in and a lot of interesting thngs to do and see. Oh yeah...and it's really cold too!!